How To Customize Your Twitter Header

When I first learned about the new Twitter profile I was excited because of all the additional digital real-estate offered by the Twitter header.

It presented the opportunity for me to drive consumers to my website, or illustrate some new product or service I was working on. In addition, it offered a new place to test copy, and perceived value propositions. Awesome.

So I jumped in this ocean of new possibilities, and put my graphic design hat on to produce my first Twitter header…and that’s where I hit a snag.

It turns out that it’s actually kind of hard to make a custom Twitter header…which is why I threw together this tutorial.

In this article you’ll learn:

The proper Twitter header size

The Twitter header dimensions

How to make your Twitter header with my nifty template

You don’t have to have any experience in design to pull this off. Just follow the instructions below.

Twitter Header Size

Twitter recommends a Twitter header size of 1500px width X 500px height. This is the size I chose to work with, but you’re free to make small adjustments. The template I provide will use these dimensions.

Twitter Header Dimensions

This is where things get tricky. Part of your image is going to be naturally hidden so you have to create your design with this in mind.

Another issue you have to think about is how your profile is going to appear on mobile devices. This is a serious concern considering that from February 2012 to December 2013 over 70% of Twitter’s advertising revenue came from mobile devices (Twitter’s 10-K)…aka a lot of people use Twitter on their mobile devices.

Notice the black rectangles at the top and bottom of the template. Whatever you include in this area won’t appear in your Twitter header. There is a 100px gap between your picture, and the edge of the Twitter header. Your profile picture is 240px width X 240px height.

On my Twitter profile I wanted to make it look like I was thinking about our new free social media app (RedbirdQ)…so I added thought clouds to my profile picture, and my Twitter background. This gives it the appearance that I’m thinking about RedbirdQ. I included the 100px black box so you can replace my profile picture with your own if you’re thinking of doing something like I did.

Twitter Header Maker

In this video I show you exactly how easy it is to use the PowerPoint template to create a Twitter header.

What About Mobile?

This is what my current Twitter profile looks like on mobile:

My profile picture kind of hides the redbird icon in the first shot, but serves as a background in the second shot. Good enough for me.

If you plan to use your twitter header as an advertisement then you’ll need to make sure that you don’t cover up critical text when people are viewing your profile on a mobile device.

I hope you find this tutorial helpful when you’re working on customizing your Twitter header. Would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Comment below, and bookmark this page.